The maximum sentence for the crime is two years in prison coupled with a fine and a lashing across the bare butt with a rattan cane. The penalties can (and likely will) be changed if the judge feels like avoiding an international incident.

The groping occurred at the luxurious China One nightclub where Cowburn, a recruitment specialist currently working in Qatar, proved to not be so great at his job after all.

Singapore has caned foreigners before, but the government seems loathe to make a habit of it because it can create some diplomatic boondoggles. In the 1990s Bill Clinton admonished the country after a young American was sentenced to 12 strokes for vandalism.

A notoriously rule-bound country, Singapore has the tendency to treat its citizens like unruly school kids. To wit, anyone convicted of littering three time is forced to clean the streets while wearing a bib saying: "I am a litterer."